


the one who stays

by cosmicocean



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Romance, Time Travel, i'm throwing the tag in there but i'd like to think it's closer to sadness than angst, it's time traveler's wife-esque but not quite there, not too much though i think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2016-03-31
Packaged: 2018-05-30 06:45:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6413185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicocean/pseuds/cosmicocean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He’s wearing a loose white shirt and black pants. His reddish brown jacket with faded bronze buttons hangs a little on him and is smudged with dirt slightly. His dark hair is plastered to his face and his dazed brown eyes wander to FN, taking in the situation.</p><p>	“Aw, hell,” he mumbles.</p><p>	“You’re dripping on the floor.” FN doesn’t know why this is the first thing he blurts out. He should go get his superiors, his fellow troopers, tell Phasma, tell somebody. This is not regulation. When something happens that is not regulation, it’s supposed to be reported on. And yet the first thing he does is to berate the random stranger for getting the floor wet.</p><p>About a year before the skirmish on Jakku, a strange man starts appearing in FN-2187's life at random moments for reasons neither of them fully understand. </p><p>(or, the Time Traveler's Wife-esque AU I swore I would never write)</p>
            </blockquote>





	the one who stays

FN-2187 is working latrine duty on Starkiller. He actually likes Starkiller duty. He’s heard the other troopers gripe about it, speak longingly of drills and formation and the cold gray corridors of the _Finalizer_. But Starkiller has trees and snow and fresh air and maybe the first two are manufactured (and possibly even the third one, knowing the First Order) and FN lives for that, lives for the white on green that he glimpses sometimes from the inside. 

He’s in the bathrooms when there’s a _fzzt_ from one of the stalls next to his, almost like wires shorting out. FN frowns from behind his helmet and pokes his head around the corner.

There’s a soaking wet man leaning against the wall of the end stall that is definitely _not_ a stormtrooper. He’s wearing a loose white shirt and black pants. His reddish brown jacket with faded bronze buttons hangs a little on him and is smudged with dirt slightly. His dark hair is plastered to his face and his dazed brown eyes wander to FN, taking in the situation.

“Aw, hell,” he mumbles.

“You’re dripping on the floor.” FN doesn’t know why this is the first thing he blurts out. He should go get his superiors, his fellow troopers, tell Phasma, tell _somebody_. This is not regulation. When something happens that is not regulation, it’s supposed to be reported on. And yet the first thing he does is to berate the random stranger for getting the floor wet.

The man blinks a little hazily. “Sorry?”

“I just cleaned it.”

“Oh.” He rubs at his eyes. “Sorry.” It sounds surprisingly genuine for a man who just appeared out of nowhere. FN looks at him warily.

“Why are you dripping?”

“Did something stupid.” The stranger looks just as suspicious. “Why aren’t you running to get somebody?”

FN shrugs awkwardly. 

“Where am I?”

FN hesitates. “You don’t know where you are?”

“Buddy, I am not exaggerating when I tell you I have zero idea what’s happening right now.”

If this man is an enemy combatant, he shouldn’t tell him their location. But he looks tired and he’s shivering slightly. 

FN sighs a little and heads for the bathroom door, locking it. When he turns back, the stranger’s pressed himself back to the wall a little, wariness intensified slightly. He picks up one of the towels from his cleaning cart and chucks it at the man, who flails slightly as he catches it. “Here, You can dry yourself off a little.”

“Oh. Thanks.” The man starts scrubbing at himself slightly. “So where’d I end up?”

“Starkiller Base.”

The man pauses and looks up at FN with a raised eyebrow. “Not possible.”

“I know where I am. I’m assigned to sanitation duty on Starkiller Base.”

The man frowns. “That’s not possible,” he murmurs, more to himself than anything, it seems. FN gives up and just hands the man another towel.

“I’m Poe,” the man introduces himself, taking off his coat and flapping it slightly, making sure to do it away from FN so the drops don’t land on him. “Poe Dameron. Why are you helping me?”

FN shrugs a little again. “Because it’s the right thing to do,” he mumbles uncomfortably. Poe’s head shoots up.

“Finn?” he asks, sounding vaguely astonished. FN blinks.

“Who?”

“Sorry. You just, uh, sounded like a friend of mine. What’s your name again? Number? Whatever banthashit they assign you?”

FN’s a little surprised. He knows that members of the Resistance have names, and high ranking officials like Phasma and Lord Ren and Hux, but he assumed that they were _only_ for high-ranking officials and the Resistance was trying to take that from them. “Why would I have anything other than a number?”

“People are supposed to have names.”

“No, they’re not. Superior officers can have names. Like Captain Phasma or General Hux or Lord Ren. I’m a soldier.”

Poe sighs. “Your right to have a name doesn’t depend on who you are in life. You deserve a name no matter what.”

“Oh.” FN swallows. “Well, uh, FN-2187. Is what they’ve assigned me.”

Poe has that weirdly startled look on his face again. “Oh. Really?”

“Yeah.” He shifts a little uncomfortably.

“And this is Starkiller Base?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. That’s, uh, that’s good to know, FN.” Poe reaches over and puts a hand on his shoulder. “Thank you. You’re a good man, FN.” He seems to be doing his best to look into FN’s eyes through the black eye section of his helmet. He does a reasonably good job and FN feels a little flustered.

“No, I’m not,” he answers. “I’m a stormtrooper.” He swallows and leans in slightly to whisper. “They kill the good ones.”

He’s never said that out loud before. Executed the traitors, disposed of the disloyal, things like this he had said. But he’s never said that they were good, like he’s always known they were.

Poe’s eyes seem to light on fire. “FN-2187,” he says seriously. “You can be good and not be killed for it.”

That’s never occurred to him.

“Thank you,” he manages in a hoarse whisper. Poe’s lips twitch into something that isn’t quite a smile, but is close.

“You’re welcome.”

They stand like that for a moment, FN feeling oddly comforted by the hand on his shoulder. Then Poe removes it and grabs another towel.

“So-“ FN clears his throat. “So, pretty neat trick. Can you only do it in bathrooms?”

Poe snorts. “I have no clue yet.”

“What stupid thing did you do?” 

“Well. It wasn’t _stupid_ stupid.” He gives FN one of those weirdly piercing looks again, like he’s trying to make FN understand. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat if I had to.”

Whatever it is, FN doesn’t get it. “That’s nice,” he settles on. “What was it?”

“I got pushed into a pool.”

FN still doesn’t get it. “How daring of you?”

“Magic pool, I guess.”

“I didn’t know those existed.”

“Well, neither did I, until I fell into one.” He starts working at toweling off his hair when there’s a knock at the door.

“Stormtrooper, why is this door locked?” A voice calls. It sounds like one of his superiors, LM-4209.

“Mandatory bathroom cleaning, sir,” FN says, turning around and snapping to attention on instinct, even if LM cannot see him. “It seemed like the easiest way to prevent troopers from coming in while I attempted to perform my duties, sir.”

“Fine. Carry on.”

“Thank you, sir.” FN turns around to see that the room is empty. Poe has vanished. FN hesitates, wondering if maybe he dreamed the whole thing. Many of the other stormtroopers whisper of the dangers of fresh air, talk of how it can play with the mind. FN didn’t want to believe them, but perhaps they were right. Then he remembers the water. He peeks into the stall Poe appeared in to see the floor absolutely drenched where he appeared. FN walks into the stall and looks around a little, like he’s expecting Poe to have been invisible or something.

“I really hope you weren’t due to a gas leak,” FN mutters and starts mopping up the water he’s sort of praying is real.

 

It’s been about three months since FN’s possible hallucination (although there wasn’t a gas leak, he checked) that he keeps thinking about. He hasn’t told anyone about it, said the toilet backed up when he was queried about why it took him slightly longer than normal to clean. It’s a slightly less possible hallucination than it had been earlier because two months after the mysterious arrival, the Stormtroopers started hearing rumors of a dangerous Resistance pilot who expertly piloted a black X-Wing called Dameron. FN had never been more grateful for their helmets (or grateful ever before, really) to hide the shock he felt at the name. While it’s possible he’d heard it before somehow and the name centered in his hallucination, he feels that this is slightly unlikely.

He’s still on Starkiller duty, this time sitting high in a tree. It’s an endurance test for over the night from his whole squadron, set up by Phasma. The Stormtroopers are spread out over the forest up high in the trees where they cannot see or hear each other. If they spend the night and come down from the trees alive, they’ve won. It’s about midnight and FN is shivering in the blanket he was given. The helmet’s heating circuits have failed (FN suspects on purpose) and was too suffocating, so he’s taken it off and is starting to reconsider that decision.

There’s a _fzzt_ from next to him and he sees a flurry of movement out of the corner of his eye accompanied by a yelp. On instinct he reaches out and grabs, managing to hold onto Poe’s arm and steady him. 

“Easy,” he says quickly. “Easy, easy, don’t fall.”

Poe peers over the edge of the thick branch they’re sitting on. It’s a very long way down. “Good advice.”

“I thought so.” Poe’s holding onto the towel from three months ago. “Did you come back just to return that?”

Poe gives him a look. “How long’s it been for you?”

“Three months.”

“About three seconds. You can have it back if you want.” 

FN shakes his head. “I come down with anything I didn’t bring up, they’ll know something’s wrong.”

Poe nods and takes the towel he was proffering back. “Why are we in a tree?”

“Overnight endurance contest.”

“How do you win?”

“You alive?”

“…yes?”

“You’re winning.”

Poe sighs, a little cloud of breath _whooshing_ out. “They really put you through hell around here, don’t they?”

“They don’t have endurance trials in the Resistance?”

“No. You come trained. How do you know I was Resistance?”

“Started hearing talk of a pilot in their ranks named Dameron. They say he’s a good one.”

Poe looks smug. “I am.”

FN snorts. “Humble.”

“Just calling it like I see it.” Poe tugs his jacket a little tighter. “Did you tell anyone about me?”

“No.”

“What if I’m part of a super secret Resistance weapon?”

FN eyes him critically. “You seem pretty uncoordinated for a super secret Resistance weapon.”

It’s Poe’s turn to snort. “That’s a fair analysis.”

“What’s happening to you?” 

“I don’t know.” Poe runs a hand through hair that looks like it might be slowly freezing. “I jumped in the pool and then it all got sort of… kaleidoscope-y.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

Poe looks horrified. “Note to self,” he mutters. “Show Finn kaleidoscopes.”

“What?”

“Nothing. It got a little fractured and there were lots of colors. And then I was in the bathroom stall with you.” He shivers a little. FN unwraps his blanket from around his shoulders.

“Here.”

Poe shakes his head. “I can’t take your-“

“My armor looks a lot more insulating than your jacket.”

Poe frowns. “I like this jacket.”

“It looks good on you. Really good.” FN hopes the cold disguises his cheeks flushing slightly. “But still not as warm as what I’ve got. Take it.”

Poe relents and lets FN wrap him in the scratchy but thick blanket.

“There.” FN smiles. The blanket looks a little awkward compared to Poe’s finer clothes, but it still looks good on him. “It suits you.”

Poe chuckles. “Huh. Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome.” FN looks out at the trees. It may be cold and starting to snow slightly, but there’s an eerie beauty to the forest at night. “Do you see stuff like this in the Resistance a lot?”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Beautiful stuff.”

Poe’s looking at FN strangely. “Some of it’s not. Some of it’s absolutely incredible.”

“I like Starkiller duty. Maybe it’s manmade and maybe it’s fake in a way. But the air smells like trees and snow and it’s just.” FN leans his back against the tree trunk. “It’s amazing.”

“You don’t get to see a lot of planets?”

“No. We spend most of our time on the Destroyers training. If we go down to a planet it’s to train or run a test.”

Poe leans into FN a little. The feeling is oddly comforting, Poe’s head resting slightly against FN’s shoulder calming in a way he can’t put his finger on.

“Maybe you’ll get to see this stuff all the time someday,” he says quietly. “Maybe you’ll get to see all kinds of planets and people.”

“Not likely.”

“You could join the Resistance.”

FN shakes his head. “You Resistance people are crazy. I’ve seen what the First Order does to traitors and Resistance sympathizers. The only way to escape them is to run as fast and as far as possible.”

“You don’t strike me as a runner.”

“You ever spent time with the First Order?”

Poe tilts his head a little further into FN’s shoulder. “Being shot at by them count?”

“No.”

“Then just you. And I feel like you might be giving me the wrong impression.”

Warmth tingles through FN at the low-key praise. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.”

“They don’t… they’re not very kind to deserters when they catch them.” FN shakes his head slightly to dislodge the memories of the deserters forced to their knees in front of the whole army, guns to the back of their heads. “That won’t be me. It _wouldn’t_ be me,” he amends. “If I deserted.”

“You don’t want to?”

“I don’t want to die.” FN idly wonders why he’s having this conversation with a man he hardly knows. He thinks there’s something freeing about it, the fact that this man will most likely disappear at some point and take FN’s secrets with him. “They want me to be a captain someday. Like Phasma. I can find a way to live with it.”

“I think you’re too good to be one of them,” Poe tells him. “I think in the end, you’ll know that.”

FN smiles a little wearily. “If you say so.”

Poe tugs the blanket a little tighter around him. “I do.”

They’re quiet for a moment.

“You wanna hear about the time I got in a slap fight with an Ewok?” Poe finally asks. FN laughs and Poe looks delighted. He breaks into a smile for the first time that FN’s ever seen and it’s almost electrifying.

“I kind of do.”

“Buckle in, buddy, it’s a bumpy story.”

 

When FN wakes up in the morning, the blanket is tucked in carefully around him and Poe is gone. He wonders at what point Poe took the blanket off himself, how long he waited after FN fell asleep and how long afterwards he disappeared.

As FN scales down the tree, a small, irrational and slightly aching part of him wishes that Poe wouldn’t vanish.

 

FN is in the gym in the depths of Starkiller and he is alone. It has been six months since he last saw Poe, and soon he will be transferred off Starkiller and back to the _Finalizer_. The punching bags have seen a lot of work from him.

He hears the familiar _fzzt_ even over the sound of his relentless slamming of the punching bag. He can see Poe watching him out of the corner of his eye. They’re silent for a minute, FN just continuing to punch. Finally, he stands back and turns to Poe, panting slightly.

“You just gonna keep quiet?” he asks. Poe’s eyes look a little glazed. He blinks quickly and shakes his head.

“Sorry, what?”

FN wipes some of the sweat off his face with a nearby rag. “Sorry about the cold of last time.”

“It’s fine.” Poe sits on one of the weight-lifting benches. FN sits next to him. Poe looks exhausted.

“How are you handling this?”

Poe rubs at his eyes. “Something feels wrong,” he mutters. “Not just in the situation. Like I’m being pulled in the wrong direction.” He looks up at FN with a strange vulnerability. “I think I’m unstuck in time. I’m going backwards but forwards.”

“Like time travel?”

“The place we went to had some wonky effects. I think that’s what’s causing it.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Lots of things.” He hesitates. “I know you in the future.”

FN blinks. “You do?”

“Yes. I’m not sure… what I can tell you. Because I don’t know how this works, and I don’t want to mess up the future. But I know you.”

“How?” How does FN know a crazy Resistance pilot?

“You saved my life.” Poe gives him a blinding smile that wipes away the exhaustion from his face. “Without you, I’d be dead.”

FN swallows against the flutters in his stomach. “Then I’m glad I know you.” He stumbles over his words a little. “I mean, I was already glad I knew you. But I’m just. I’m very glad you’re not dead.”

Poe’s grins softens into a smile, but has no less affection in it. “I know what you’re trying to say.”

FN grins a little and looks down. He sees a small ring on Poe’s left hand, intricate and battered silver. It looks like a small branch with smaller branches protruding, the leaves tiny black stones.

“I like that,” FN says, gesturing towards it.

“Thank you.”

“Is it a wedding ring?” FN’s heard of the traditions of some other cultures in regards to matrimony. Part of him quietly hopes that it isn’t.

Poe flushes brick red and starts stammering. “No! No. I mean, not that I wouldn’t be… _amenable_ … it’s… it’s sort of… I am almost entirely confident that it was not given with that intention,” he finishes a little lamely. 

FN raises his eyebrows. “Okay?”

“Yes. So. No. But it was a gift. A very nice gift. Very much appreciated.” Poe coughs a little. “Yes.”

FN snorts. “Were you ever under the impression that you were smooth?”

Poe grins. “Once.”

“What happened?”

“I met someone I had the inability to be smooth around.” 

“Lucky someone.” FN does his best to keep his touch of jealousy out of his tone. Poe flushes a little more.

“I like to think of it more as lucky me,” he mumbles. 

“You’ll have to tell future me all about it.” FN isn’t sure if he _quite_ believes that Poe’s from the future, especially if he’s saying that he saved his life. But Poe believes it, and right now that’s enough for FN.

Poe looks at him forlornly. “I wish I could take you with me,” he says quietly. “I wish you didn’t have to stay here.”

FN wants to take away all the sadness from Poe’s bearing. He stands up and holds a hand out to Poe. “Come on. I have to go back to the _Finalizer_ tomorrow and I’m taking advantage of this gym. You can work on the punching bag with me. Maybe you could beat an Ewok in a slap fight if you do.”

It works. Poe laughs. “It was a _draw_.” He reaches to take Finn’s hand and promptly vanishes. FN stares at the air where his hand was about to brush Poe’s.

He works in the gym for longer than he anticipated, eventually hitting the punching bag so hard it flies off its chain.

 

Two days later, Phasma tells FN and the rest of her squadron that they’re on their way to Jakku, where a Resistance pilot wth information that could bring down the First Order. Privately, Finn hopes they don’t catch him.

They arrive on Jakku and FN is instantly assaulted by the smoke from the blaster fire, the smell of death as troopers mow down residents of Jakku. He watches one of his fellow stormtroopers die in his arms. His entire brain has frozen except for one clear realization.

_I can’t do this_.

He’s going to need a way to escape. A way to flee the First Order and never look back.

He thinks all of this before he sees Poe Dameron driven to his knees before Lord Ren.

The hair is a little shorter. The jacket is different. FN can’t see the ring on his finger. But it is _unquestionably_ the man he has seen over the course of a year, the man he has been ridiculously infatuated with despite having only met him three times. 

He needed a pilot anyway. But the choice is obvious, now. 

(Poe was from the future all along)

When Poe assumes that he is taking him only because he needs a pilot, FN doesn’t correct him. There doesn’t seem to be a right way to say _you don’t know me yet, but I know you, and it’s more important to me than I can put into words or understand that I get you out of here._

He also has to restrain the impulse to wipe the blood from Poe’s face, to apologize for what Kylo Ren has done to him even if it isn’t technically his fault. 

It’s going to be all right. Poe knows he knows him now. FN can take him away from this place, this whole shitshow. They're going to run together, and everything’s going to be all right. Poe gives FN a name, he gets a name, _he deserves a_ _name_ , and they’re going to be just fine-

 

The blast that knocks their ship off spiraling changes that perception drastically.

 

Poe Dameron has to be alive.

He’s from the future.

Newly crowned Finn takes Poe’s jacket and grits his teeth and keeps moving because Poe Dameron has to be alive.

 

Rey is beautiful and Rey is kind and Finn wants to fight for her more than anything, wants her to come with him to the far reaches of the galaxy. They can find Poe somehow, maybe, reunite him with BB-8, they can survive and be okay, and Finn will have a family.

When she is taken by Kylo Ren, when he sees her hanging limp in his arms, it is like seeing the wreckage of the TIE fighter without Poe in it all over again and he knows he can’t run. Not really, not truly. 

He can fight for the people he needs or he can lose them. There is no contest.

 

When he sees Poe again, hair mussed from the X-Wing, still cut up and bloody from what happened on the _Finalizer_ , his heart seems to expand and contract all at once. He tries not to hold onto him any longer than he should.

In addition to the butterflies he feels when Poe tells him that his jacket suits him, he remembers the look on Poe’s face when he said the same thing so many months ago and has to try not to laugh.

 

Poe claps him on the shoulder before they leave for Starkiller and part of Finn wonders if this is the last time he’ll see Poe. There’s a strange comfort in the fact that even if it is, it won’t be the last time Poe sees him.

 

When Rey hugs him on base, he thinks he understands what the word _family_ means.

When Kylo Ren cuts him down as he defends Rey, he thinks before he is lost to the oblivion of unconsciousness _it was worth it. It was so very worth it._

 

The first thing he sees when he wakes up is BB-8, rolled up real close to Finn’s face. Finn feels pleasantly drugged up, enough to not really be aware of what’s going on.

“Hey, BB-8,” he mumbles. “You look cleaner. Did Poe wash you off?”

BB-8 makes what sounds like an agreeing chirrup.

“Can I tell you a secret?”

BB-8 whirs in forwards, tilting their headpiece in a little closer.

“I know him,” Finn whispers. “I know Poe from before he met me.”

BB-8 rolls back in surprise like when Finn told them that he wasn’t actually Resistance.

“S’true! He thought he was unstuck in time. Dunno what’s goin’ on. I’m gonna figure it out, though, and fix everything. You can’t tell Poe, though. Gotta be a secret. Don’t know how this works. Don’t wanna mess anything up.” He clumsily raises an arm that feels heavy and seems to have weird tubes in it and presses his hand to his lips. “Sshhhh, kay?”

BB-8 nods. Finn smiles sleepily.

“I’m gonna pass back out now,” he tells them agreeably. “You can tell people I woke up, if you want.” He tries to reach out and pat BB-8 but just sort of ends up brushing his hand on their body instead. “Say hi to Poe for me.” Something troubling arises in his brain. “Poe’s okay, right?”

BB-8 nods again.

“That’s good. Night, droid.” Finn slips back contentedly into unconsciousness.

 

When Finn wakes up again it’s not quite as pleasant. His back hurts and he remembers what happened on Starkiller now. BB-8’s there again but this time with Poe, who's asleep in a chair, head lolled forwards a little. 

“Is Rey okay?” He manages to croak at BB-8, who chirrups what sounds like an affirmative. “That’s good.” He remembers when he last woke up. “Did you talk about what I told you?” A negative now. “Thank you.” 

BB-8 whirls close to Poe and jabs him sharply with his prod in the leg. Poe jerks into consciousness.

“ _Ow_ , BB-8.”

BB-8 trills something innocently in response and Poe looks over at Finn. His face splits into a wide grin. 

“Hey, Finn.”

Finn smiles creakily back. “Hey. Did we win?”

“We did.”

“Good.” His smile fades slightly. “How’s the General doing?”

Poe sighs. “She’s hanging in there.”

Finn tries to sit up and winces. Poe instantly stands up and puts his hands on Finn’s shoulder.

“Easy, easy. You took a harsh cut there.”

Finn nods. “Where’s Rey?”

“She left to find Luke Skywalker.”

Finn grins. “Good for her.”

Poe grins back. “That’s what we thought.” His grin fades. “We didn’t think you were gonna make it for a while there, buddy.”

He doesn’t know what to say to that. “M’glad I did.”

The smile returns. “Me too.”

 

When Poe visits the next day (Dr. Kalonia makes him leave in the evening) he walks in talking to a holo-projector, the figure answering him in a very familiar voice.

“This better be a good surprise, Poe, Master Luke doesn’t always allow a lot of break time.”

Poe gently puts the projector on Finn’s chest so he can see Rey, in nicer clothes than he last saw her, hair pulled back tight. He grins.

“I heard you kicked a Sith Lord’s ass,” he tells her. “That’s pretty cool.”

“Finn!” Rey beams suddenly, leaning in slightly. “You’re awake!”

“I’ll leave you two alone to catch up.” Poe gently brushes Finn’s shoulder with his hand and then leaves. 

“I’m so glad you’re okay. I’m sorry I left before you woke up, but-“

“It’s okay, you should have. This is more important.” The last time Finn saw Rey, she was lying in the snow. He wishes he could touch her to reassure himself that she’s all right, no matter what his eyes are telling him. “Are you a Jedi now?”

She laughs. “No. I’m training to be, though.”

“Do you have magic powers?”

She grins. “I wish. I can levitate rocks, though!”

“That’s so cool! You have to show me at some point.”

Rey tells him all about Ahch-To, of her training and of Luke. “He’s a bit odd,” she says. “But he’s a good man. And he has the best flying stories.”

Finn doesn’t have a lot to answer with, still trapped in his hospital bed, but he updates her on his condition. He should be out of bed and able to walk in the next week, fully recuperated in about four.

“I’m not sure what I’m going to do with myself. We didn’t have a lot of down time in the First Order.”

“It’s so strange, isn’t it, all these new things?” Rey leans forwards conspiratorially. “They have incredible food on the Resistance base _and they don’t even know it_.” 

Finn nods vigorously. “They say it tastes terrible, but they don’t even know!”

“They should see what portions were like on Jakku. There’s _so much food_ on base, Finn! And you can eat as much as you like!”

“And it _tastes_ like something! Do you know what food tasted like in the First Order? Mold. And sadness.”

Rey tosses her head back and Finn grins, so beyond grateful that someone else understands how profoundly awful but completely hilarious all of this is.

She glances at something he can’t see and sighs. “I have to go back to training,” she tells him a little regretfully. “But I can talk to you again later this week! Start reading books. Eat a lot.”

He smiles. “Yes, ma’am.”

The amusement on her face softens to something heartfelt and loving. “I’m glad you’re all right.”

He feels his face transform similarly. “I’m glad you’re all right, too.”

 

If there’s anything Finn is not while he is bedridden, it is lonely.

Poe is there every single day he’s not assigned to fly. Often BB-8 and two members of his squadron, Jessika and Snap, come in with him. Snap starts teaching him binary and Jessika regales him with amusing stories from the base. When he mentions that he misses working out, she looks delighted.

“When you’re better we can spar together,” Jessika says cheerfully. “It’s one of the best parts of being surrounded by fighters. No one in the squadron’s very good, though.”

Poe glares at her. “Hey, I’m all right.”

“You got in a slap fight with an Ewok and it was a draw, Poe,” Finn says without really thinking. “I’m not sure how much that speaks to your abilities.”

Poe looks horrified. Jessika and Snap look delighted.

“ _How did you know that?_ ”

Finn flushes, suddenly aware that Poe doesn't know he knows that story. “Must’ve heard it around,” he answers evasively.

“You lost a fight with a Ewok?” Jessika asks ecstatically. “This is amazing. Greatest pilot in the Resistance can’t hold his own against a fuzzy little bear.”

“It was a _draw_ , Pava.” Poe looks pained. “A _draw._ ”

“ _Amazing_.”

 

“What’s your fashion sense like?” Jessika asks with an arm full of clothes while Snap is helping Finn with his physical therapy. Physical therapy, Finn has decided, is the worst thing to ever have been invented. Poe is hot on Jessika’s heels.

“Jess, Finn’s busy healing, let him-“

“Finn wants a break,” Snap says. “He’s not doing his best to hide it.”

Finn nods vigorously and lets Snap help him sit down. “Thanks, Snap.”

“You got it.”

Jessika dumps the pile in front of Finn. “Your fashion sense. What are we talking here?”

“Well, if you were a stormtrooper, you were very into that white and black color scheme.” He considers. “Unless you were Captain Phasma. She was very into… shiny.”

“Well, you know Poe, so you still get to give input. Poe needs a new jacket since he gave you his.”

“I do not,” Poe mumbles. Jessika ignores him.

“And he’s too busy restitching your jacket to pick one out for himself.”

Finn looks at Poe, startled. Poe flushes.

“You are?”

“It was going to be a _surprise_ , thank you, Pava.”

Finn grins at him. “Thank you.”

Poe beams back. “You’re welcome.”

Snap clears his throat. “Anyway _._ ”

“We’ve foraged these from other ships we’ve picked up.” Jessika nudges at the pile with her toe. “What do you think?”

Finn shakes his head a little but smiles, bending over to sift through the pile. He pauses suddenly, fingers stopping over a familiar color. He pulls it out.

It’s the reddish brown jacket Poe was wearing when he first met him, a little less battered, a little less worn, but undeniably the same. Finn tries to keep the sudden rush of shock off his face.

“How about this one?” he asks as neutrally as possible. “I like this one.”

Poe holds out his hand and Finn gives it to him. He shrugs the coat on and Finn swallows the rise of nostalgia. 

“Hot damneron,” Jessika says approvingly. Poe groans.

“You promised me you’d stop saying that.”

“I lied.” She turns to Finn. “Good eye, Finn. There may be a fashion sense in you yet.”

Finn puts on a smile and tries not to wonder what this means.

 

Poe presents him with his old jacket when Finn is cleared from physical therapy back to full health. The slash from Kylo Ren’s lightsaber is covered by a thin strip of red leather that makes the clothing look even more badass and one could never even tell it had been ripped in the first place. Poe beams wide and delighted when Finn shrugs it on and it still fits perfectly. Finn walks around with a spring in his step and a swoop in his stomach for the rest of the day.

 

“Can you ask Skywalker if it’s possible for someone to become unstuck in time?” Finn asks, trying to use Poe’s exact wording. It’s been six and a half months since he left the First Order and he’s talking to Rey, cross legged on his neatly made bed. Poe’s bed next to him in the room they share is nowhere near as neat. Poe says Finn’s bed is a true example of the orderly and sadistic nature of the First Order. Finn says Poe’s is a true example of the chaos and traitorous nature of the Resistance. They’re currently at an impasse on the situation. Poe is not, however, in his bed, off on a supply run. 

Rey frowns. “Unstuck in time?”

“Like. If someone starts moving through time sort of… erratically. Can you ask him?”

“Of course. Finn, what’s this about?”

He hesitates and lowers his voice, even though Poe isn’t here. The Resistance walls are thin. “I knew Poe before he knew me.”

“What?”

He tells her the story, from the first time Poe appeared to him to picking out the new jacket. Rey is quiet throughout.

“I think we’re going to reach the point where he’s unstuck soon,” Finn finishes. “And I don’t know what this means and I don’t want to lose him.”

Rey nods thoughtfully. “I’ll talk to Master Luke.”

“Thank you.”

“Knowing him beforehand certainly didn’t help the fact that you’re falling in love with him, did it?”

Finn gives a look. Her response is a gentle smile.

“You’re not very subtle, Finn.”

He sighs. “He’s just.” He rubs at his temple. He doesn’t know how to put it into words for Rey, how strange and deep and strong and _natural_ it all feels. “I don’t know. He’s just _Poe_.”

Rey chuckles. “Eloquent.”

“Shut up.”

 

Finn’s first mission out with the Resistance is the most exciting thing he’s ever experienced.

The mission itself is fairly rudimentary. But he and Poe go to a bustling planet called Alv’ire, made up almost entirely of medium sized towns connected to large cities. Finn has to restrain himself from looking around too fast so he doesn’t get dizzy. Poe grins.

“Do you want to explore the marketplace?” he asks while they’re waiting in a bar for their contact in one of Alv’ire’s major cities, Sh’re. “I can handle this.”

Finn hesitates, not entirely willing to leave Poe alone in case of danger. “Will you call me if something bad happens?”

“You’ll be able to tell by the blaster fire.”

Finn frowns. “Not funny, Dameron.”

Poe laughs regardless. “It’ll be fine. Go ahead.”

Finn grins and hugs Poe tightly. After a moment of surprise, Poe’s arms go around him just as warmly. “Thank you.”

He dodges out of the bar and wanders around the crowded market street, moving from vendor to vendor. He stops at a small cart with intricate jewelry and browses, looking for something perhaps for Rey. He’s been accumulating little trinkets for her to come back to, paintings of flowers and landscapes, little vials of water from planets that are nothing but oceans. He’s not sure she’d enjoy jewelry, but he wants to get her something as a memento from this first adventure. He’s searching when he stops.

In a box full of loose rings, there is a small and intricate antique ring. It is of a tree branch, littler branches coming out of it with black stones for leaves.

_It was a gift. A very nice gift. Much appreciated_.

Finn picks it up along with a small headband of sand colored metallic leaves for Rey. He digs around in his pocket to supply the money to the vendor when the vendor’s daughter, who can’t be more than ten, tugs on her father’s sleeve.

“Papa,” she whispers. “Papa, that’s _Finn_ , from destroying the Starkiller.”

Finn freezes, fear hitting low in his stomach. He meets the vendor’s eyes, expecting to see some form of anger. In the major cities the First Order is largely in control. He tenses, ready to run and take Poe if he has to.

There’s surprise in the face of the vendor before he shakes his head. “No charge.”

Finn blinks. “Sorry?”

“They’re free for you. No charge.”

“I can’t do that.”

The vendor closes Finn’s hand around the jewelry. “We had family in the Hosnian system,” he says gently but firmly. “Please. Take this. It is the least we can do.”

Finn swallows and nods. “Thank you.”

The vendor smiles. “It’s our pleasure.”

 

When he and Poe are aboard the shuttle and sitting in the cockpit after they enter lightspeed, Finn turns to Poe.

“I got you something.”

Poe looks startled. “Really?”

He nods and holds out the ring. “I think it should fit.”

Poe gazes at it. “It’s beautiful.” He shakes his head. “You don’t have to-“

“No, I do. This is a thank you for saving my life.”

“You saved _mine_.”

“No, you-“ Finn wants to tell him so many things, wants to tell him that Poe was the first person who introduced him to the concept that perhaps he could be good and survive, that he wasn’t a runner but a fighter, that he _gave him a name_. 

“You didn’t save my life,” he says finally. “You gave it to me. Please.”

Poe and Finn stare at each other for a long moment. Then Poe quietly slips the ring onto his left hand.

“Thank you,” he murmurs. Finn looks down, suddenly self conscious.

“You’re welcome.”

 

Finn dozes off in the cockpit and when he wakes up, he’s leaning his head into Poe’s shoulder. Poe’s got an arm slung around him, gently pulling him in close. Finn smiles drowsily and nods back to sleep.

 

“Master Luke says there’s been strange fluctuations in time before thanks to the Force, but he’s never heard of someone becoming unstuck before,” Rey tells him while Poe is off on the first of what’s supposed to be a three day mission. “I didn’t tell him why I asked. I don’t know how private you want to keep this.”

Finn sighs. “Thanks for trying.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I got him the ring the other day.”

Rey’s quiet and he knows she can feel how worried he is that the moment is coming, that soon everything will change in ways he doesn’t understand, how tightly the knot in his stomach is wound.

“I feel upset that I wasn’t invited to the wedding,” she says finally. It is the perfect thing to say and he laughs unexpectedly.

“Don’t be an ass.”

 

Finn likes to sit by the rivers of D’Qar sometimes. The sound of the rushing waters calm him in a way he can’t explain. He sits there on the second day of Poe’s mission to try and relax from the mounting fear in his chest. As he drags his fingers along the water, feeling the gentle current move about them, the _fzzt_ happens unexpectedly and he looks up sharply.

Poe blinks a little owlishly, hand still held out for Finn to lift him off the weight bench. “We’re on D’Qar.”

“Poe.” Finn kneels in front of him, withdrawing his fingers from the water. “You have to tell me what’s going on.”

“We’re on D’Qar. You’re wearing my jacket.” Poe looks so tired and Finn doesn’t know what to do, doesn’t want to _do_ this anymore. “When is this?”

“You’re on a three day mission for the General. I just gave you that.” He gestures at the ring.

Poe twitches a little. “It’s soon, then,” he mutters. “It’s soon.”

“Poe, _please_ , you’ve got to talk to me.”

Poe rubs his eyes. “I feel stretched thin. I don’t know how long I can keep doing this. Finn, I just-“

Finn kisses him.

It feels like the most logical thing to do and the most reckless thing to do at the same time. Finn just grabs him by the lapels and hauls him in. There’s no finesse to it. It’s messy and uncoordinated and it’s beautiful. Poe kisses him back just as desperately, one hand flying to his neck and the other bunching up the front of Poe’s old jacket.

Finn’s not sure how long they kiss for. All he knows is that when they break away, Finn presses his forehead to Poe’s. They’re both breathing heavy and Finn’s not sure how much that had to do with the kiss.

“I want to help,” he whispers. “Just let me help.”

“I don’t know how.” Poe looks at his face searchingly. “You knew, didn’t you? You warned me. You knew me all along. That’s why you saved me. You knew all along.”

“Tell me what I can do to help, I don’t want to lose you-”

Poe kisses him again, slower, but no less frightened.

“Just tell me what stupid thing you did,” Finn says when Poe pulls away to bury his face in his shoulder. “Just tell me what you did, and we’ll prevent it, we’ll fix it.”

Poe shakes his head. “I won’t. It was worth it.”

“Poe, _please_ -“

He lifts his head to look at Finn with fierce eyes. “It was _worth_ it.”

“ _Nothing_ is worth what this is doing to you.”

“No. You’ll understand. It’ll just be a few days, and you’ll understand.”

Terror settles in the bottom of his stomach. _A few days_. Finn’s going to lose Poe in just a few days.

“Please-“

“Can we just…” Poe looks helpless. “Can we just look at the river for a little while? Please? I know it’s your favorite spot, and it’s just so quiet. Please.”

Finn swallows and nods. “Okay.”

They sit on the edge of the river, Finn’s fingers tangled with Poe’s. 

“Do you think it’ll ever stop?” Finn asks quietly. 

“I don’t know. I wondered about it, when we were in the trees on Starkiller. I wondered if I’ll keep seeing you for the rest of your life. If I’m going to have to watch you age and…” Poe cuts himself off. “I don’t want to lose you, either.”

“You won’t.” Finn tries to put every ounce of how certain he is. “It doesn’t matter if the next time you see me is when I’m on my deathbed. You will _always_ have me.”

Poe searches his face and must not see any hint of lie in it because he breaks into a smile that’s still tired and worried, but honest.

“Thank you.”

“There’s nothing to thank.”

Poe leans forwards, releasing Finn’s hand to drink from the river with cupped palms. He finishes drinking and stands, holding out his hand to Finn. “Let’s go for a walk.”

Finn smiles and when he goes to look at Poe’s hand so he can take it, the hand is gone, along with the rest of Poe.

 

“What the hell did you do?” Dr. Kalonia asks while she wraps Finn’s bloodied knuckles.

“I punched a tree,” he answers wearily. 

“What, five times?”

“I’m not sure. I lost count.”

Dr. Kalonia sighs. “Well, at least it’s not broken.” She puts Finn’s hand down. “You’re all done. Do you want to talk about it?”

That’s something else that fascinates Finn about the Resistance. People who hardly know you will ask if you’re okay.

“Not really.”

“All right.” And they’ll respect your boundaries at the same time. She returns her attention to whatever she’s been looking at on her computer screen. “Just stop punching trees.”

 

When Poe gets back two days later Finn’s knuckles are no longer bloody but still vaguely bruised. Poe’s eyes widen when he arrives to see Finn typing up a handwritten report for the General. There’s something soothing about the repetition of typing.

“What happened?” he asks, gently picking up Finn’s hand to examine the bruises. Finn turns in his chair away from the keyboard.

“I lost my temper.”

Poe frowns. “Was someone on base rude to you?”

Finn shakes his head. Although even if it had been true he probably wouldn't mention it- Poe looks ready to hunt down this imaginary insulter. “Just a tree.”

Poe’s frown deepens and he opens his mouth to say something, but Kaydel Ko sticks her head in.

“Poe, Finn, the General wants to see you.”

Finn stands and Poe drops Finn’s hand. They head to the main strategy room, where Jessika, Snap, and BB-8 are waiting with the General as she scans some readings. She glances up.

“Ah, excellent. I need the five of you to go on a recon mission to Dagobah.” 

Poe raises an eyebrow. “Dagobah?” The distaste in his voice is clear.

“What’s wrong with Dagobah?” Finn asks.

“It’s a swampy shithole,” Snap says frankly. His eyes dart to the General. “Apologies for my language, ma’am.”

She waves at him. “It’s fine, Wexley. You’re not wrong. There’s something there that my brother sent us a message asking for us to find. A Kyber crystal.”

Now _that_ Finn does know about. “You want us to find a lightsaber crystal?”

“My brother wants it for Rey. He says it’s important for her to build her own.”

Even in the queasy bog of anxiety that Finn’s been living in for the past few days, he feels proud. “She gets to build her own lightsaber already?”

The General must see the pleasure in his face because a smile flickers across hers. “So it would seem.” She hands Poe a small drive. “Take a shuttle equipped with guns. Dagobah is strongly attuned with the Force. You never know if the First Order’ll be watching it for that reason.”

 

Something about this mission feels like it’s lining up too close with Poe’s prior prediction of “it’ll be just a few days” and it spooks Finn deeply. He sits quietly in the corner while Jessika and Snap banter from the pilot seats and BB-8 watches them with some amusement, double and triple and quadruple checking that his blaster is fully functioning. Poe sits next to him.

“Are you okay?” he asks softly. “You seem off.”

Finn’s hands pause in the check of the blaster. “Yeah. I feel a little off.”

“Can I help?”

Finn wants to say that yes, he can, just please whatever thing he feels the impulse to do soon, no matter how worth it he thinks it is, just please _don’t do it_.

“Not really.”

“Okay. Let me know if I can.” Poe puts his hand on Finn’s shoulder. They sit like that in silence for the rest of the trip, Finn continuing to check his blaster all the way.

 

After a lengthy debate between Snap and Jessika in which Poe accuses them of being children and says even BB-8 thinks they’re being children, and BB-8 says that they think no such thing, and Finn says nothing, Snap gets to hold the scanner for the crystal. Dagobah is full of hanging eerie vines and twisting branches and fog. It doesn’t help his increasing apprehension. 

They come to a gigantic tree, a part in the middle of the trunk almost like a small doorway. The device in Snap’s hand goes wild.

“This looks like a good place for a trap,” Poe observes quietly. Finn readies his blaster and stalks to the front.

“Let me go first,” he mutters.

“Whoa,” Poe says quickly. “I don’t-“

“He’s the better shot.” Snap nods at him. “Go ahead.”

Finn holds his blaster at the ready and quietly slips into the tree. It turns out to be a fairly decent sized cave and on first sight there are no dangers.

“It’s clear,” he calls and the rest of them file in, BB-8 staying outside as a lookout. That’s when he sees it, smack in the middle of the cave. It’s a small shallow pool, surrounded by dull rocks roughly hewn into spheres. The pool’s blue water sparkles softly against what looks like soft sand at the bottom.

“Pretty,” Poe observes as they step in. 

_I got pushed into a pool._

_How daring of you?_

_Magic pool, I guess._

Finn grabs Poe’s elbow as Snap follows the beeping of the device to a small compartment in the side of the tree.

“Don’t get too close to that,” he whispers. Poe frowns.

“Why?”

“Just don’t, okay? Please. It’s dangerous.”

“How do you know?”

“Trust me.”

“Your concern about the rest of us is so touching,” Jessika laughs. Then she catches a glimpse of Finn’s face and her smile falters at whatever she sees in it. “Finn…?”

“I’ve got it,” Snap says, closing the compartment and placing the slender box containing the crystal gently into his knapsack. “Let’s get out of here. This place is creeping me out.”

BB-8 screams shrilly. _DANGER, DANGER, MONSTER!_

Then there’s a creaking sort of roar and Finn’s stomach flops to his feet because he knows that roar, remembers hearing it when studying creatures of the murkier reaches of the galaxy.

“Dragon snake,” he whispers. 

BB-8 rolls in swiftly just as the dragon snake slithers in, teeth sharp and camouflage green, shrieking at them.

“Get back!” Finn bellows as they all raise their blasters. “Get back, their fangs are poisonous, _don’t let them bite you!_ ” He frantically tries to remember their weak spots. “Aim for the neck!”

“It’s a snake!” Jessika yells. “They’re _all_ neck!”

The dragon snake rears slightly, the lower part of it’s body swelling until it does appear to have a neck.

“Never mind!” 

Finn takes a shot for the neck. The blow glances off the side and pisses it off more than anything. It surges for Finn and Finn staggers back, flailing, about to fall backwards into the pool-

and then Poe shoves him to the side-

and he falls in the dirt-

and the dragon snake doesn’t bite Poe-

but it headbutts him in a way-

and Poe loses his balance-

and Finn’s shout cannot prevent Poe from falling backwards into the pool-

and then he is gone.

“ _POE!_ ” Jessika screams. She takes a shot that’s well aimed, slams right into the middle of the dragon snake’s neck and the dragon snake screeches once more before it dies. Jessika surges to run to the pool but Finn is faster, grabs her and drags her at the edge of the pool. The waters are remaining shallow, are perfectly still, like nothing could have ever fallen through it. 

“Let _go_ -“ 

Finn doesn’t, can’t even speak. He just presses his face into Jessika’s shoulder. Snap sits down heavily next to them, wraps his arms around them as BB-8 moves up and joins the pack of grief as best they can.

“He’s gone,” she whispers. “How did you know?”

He still can’t say a word. Jessika doesn’t seem to expect an answer. 

They sit there for a while until Jessika finally says, voice clogged with tears, “We need to get moving.”

Snap helps Jessika to her feet. Finn stands, body somehow not feeling attached to him.

The trip back is silent. After Snap gets in touch with the Resistance base, he and Jessika sit in silence in the pilot’s seats. BB-8 whirs up to Finn as Finn sits huddled in one of the shuttle’s bunks, wrapped in a blanket.

_It was worth it_. That’s what Poe kept telling him. He pushed Finn out of the way, fell to save him, and he kept telling Finn it was worth it.

_You said you met him before he met you_ , BB-8 beeps. _You said you knew him. He can’t be dead._

“No,” Finn answers. “No, he can’t.” The hollow feeling he’s been carrying around since he watched Poe falls suddenly has a spark ignite. “So there’s hope.” He does his best to look BB-8 in their viewer. “I’ll get him back.”

BB-8’s quiet for a moment.

_I believe you, friend Finn_ , they finally answer and that belief helps push his drive for a plan.

 

The mood is somber when they disembark the shuttle. Jessika and Snap head straight for their friends. BB-8 rolls beside Finn.

“Do you want to go talk to the droids?” Finn asks. BB-8 shakes their head.

_You’re in charge now. It’s what Master Poe would have wanted._

Finn swallows and doesn’t bother to argue. BB-8 wouldn’t listen. 

The General stands waiting, face pale and drawn. Snap told him how after Starkiller she stood waiting for Rey, too, after Han Solo’s death. Finn imagines that her face looked similar then and that is unacceptable. 

He strides right up to her.

“Finn,” she says softly.

“General.” His voice comes close to cracking. He will not let it. He clears his throat. “We need to talk. Poe’s not dead.”

Her eyebrows shoot up.

“Come with me, then,” she says after a moment of evaluating Finn. “And we’ll talk.”

 

General Organa’s room is the same size as the shared barracks of the rest of the Resistance, but it has only a single bed and not two in it. He sits across from her at her desk that is covered with papers and holodrives and tells her the story of Poe appearing to him the first time, where Poe must be appearing to him right now, everything Poe mentioned of how he came to appear to Finn.

“He takes just a little bit longer each time to appear,” he finishes. “He’ll be back in another nine months or so. I know it sounds crazy, General, I know it sounds like I’m delusional with sadness, but I swear it’s true. I told Rey about it before, she can verify it for you if you need to.”

General Organa nods slowly and thoughtfully. “I’ll need a holo-projector,” she says finally. “To get in touch with Luke. He knows more about the Force than I do, and more about Dagobah. He may be able to help us. I’ll call for him to come back here right away.”

Finn blinks. “Really?”

“Yes. He can tell us why Poe seems to gravitate to you.” 

“You believe me? Just like that?”

“I’ve already lost one son, Finn.” She stands up. “I won’t lose another if I can help it.”

 

The next day, the _Millennium Falcon_ arrives. Rey runs down the ramp immediately, wearing soft brown robes, and scans the crowd for Finn. When she sees him, she instantly runs towards him and hugs him tightly. He buries his face in the crook of her neck. Rey’s hands press gently on his back and on the back of his head.

“We’re gonna get him back,” she whispers. “I promise, Finn, we’ll get him back.”

“I know.” He clings to her. “I know.”

She pulls back and smiles faintly at him, wiping the tears from his cheeks with the edge of her sleeve. “You’re going to get snot on my robe.”

He snorts weakly. “You look just like a real Jedi.”

She chuckles softly. “Shut up. Come meet Master Luke.”

Skywalker has an arm around General Organa’s shoulder and is saying something in a low voice to her. A faint smile flickers across his lips and she rolls her eyes, smiling nonetheless. He looks up at Rey and Finn approaching.

“You must be Finn.” Skywalker shakes his hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Master Skywalker.”

“Tell me about your friend.”

 

Finn describes in as great detail as he can to Skywalker the cave and the pool while they sit in the mess hall. He shows Skywalker a picture of the ring that he gave to Poe. Skywalker studies it.

“The stones,” he says thoughtfully. “The ones shaping the leaves. They’re Pontite crystals. They’re the rarest kind of Adegan crystal. That’s why they’re in such small quantity. In large amounts they can be used to forge very powerful lightsabers. They’re incredible Force sensitive. I’ve never heard of this happening before, but my assumption is this: when he pushed you out of the way, the Force sensitive nature of this pool combined with the reaction to the Pontite. Because he chose to save you and because you gave him the crystals, he’s linked to you.” Skywalker meets Finn’s eyes with nothing but compassion, like he knows Finn’s been beating himself up for this. “He may have taken your place, but thanks to your gift, he’s not untethered in time. He has a place to come back to.”

Finn swallows. “Good to know,” he manages.

“Like I said, I’ve never encountered this before. But we have nine months to figure out a plan. And we’ll do it.”

Rey squeezes Finn’s hand as he nods. “I believe you.”

 

For eight months, Finn devotes himself to training. He works in the gym, betters his aim with a blaster, learns how to fly better, goes on stealth missions, anything to keep him moving and not dwelling on the absence of Poe. At night, when he’s sitting in his and Poe’s room by the empty bed no one has yet dared to fill, he settles. Sometimes he’ll play dejarik with BB-8. Mostly, when BB-8 is still and charging, he turns over the plan he’s been formulating.

At the eight and a half month mark, he tells Rey, Skywalker, and General Organa his plan.

General Organa purses her lips. “It seems extraordinarily simple.”

“Sometimes the correct solution is the simple one.” Skywalker leans forwards. “Do you really think it’ll work?”

“Can you think of anything better?”

Skywalker inclines his head in response. “Fair. Well, if you think it’ll work, then I stand behind you.”

General Organa nods in agreement. Finn turns to Rey, who hasn’t said a word, and waits.

“I think it’s ridiculous,” she says bluntly. “I think that it might not work and it might set you loose, too. But I also know that it’s foolish to try and stop you, and I may as well stand beside you on this one, because if I don’t you’ll probably do something even stupider.”

He recognizes the affection behind her words and hugs her. She hugs him back.

“Please don’t die,” she whispers. “I’ve gotten used to you.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

 

The nine month mark hits. Finn can feel the excitement thrumming through the base. Nobody knows of his plan except for Rey, Skywalker, and General Organa, but they know that he must have one. Whispers pass from person to person, _will today be the day Dameron comes back, is Dameron returning, what crazy plan are they going to have?_

Finn is helping Rey fix an X-Wing, jacket tied around his waist on a sunny day. She holds out a hand. 

“Hand me a spider wrench.”

Finn immediately passes it over. She looks pleased. 

“You know what that is! I’m proud of you.”

“I live to please,” he deadpans, and she laughs.

_Fzzt._

Finn stands up like he’s been electrified. Rey stands with him.

“Finn? What is…” she trails off as she looks over his shoulder. Finn spins around.

Poe’s reaching his hand back from where he was offering to help Finn up. He has that too familiar dazedly exhausted expression. It’s been nine months and six days since Finn last saw him.

He flies at Poe, moving as fast as possible in case he vanishes faster than anticipated. Finn grabs onto his arms. Poe blinks.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s okay,” Finn tells him. “It’s okay. We’ve figured it out.”

“Is that Rey and holy shit Skywalker?”

Finn looks over his shoulder to see Rey. Her teeth are gritted and she’s blinking back tears. Skywalker has his hand on her shoulder comfortingly and her hand is gripping it. General Organa walks to stand silently next to her brother.

“It’ll be okay,” he calls to them as the entire base watches in a hushed silence. “It’ll be fine.”

Rey nods. “I know.” She gives him a watery but reassuring smile. “I believe you.”

“Finn.” Finn turns back to see Poe with a wary expression. “Finn, what are you going to do?”

“It’s the ring I gave you. It’s tying you to me. We figured out how to counteract it. We’ve just got to confuse it a little.”

“Finn, _what are you going to do?_ ”

Finn does his best to smile bravely. “I’m going with you this time.”

“ _What?_ ” Poe does his best to get Finn to release him then, but Finn holds firm. “Finn, you can’t, what if it just sets us both loose-“

“It won’t.”

“How do you know that?”

“Well. An educated guess. But a _very_ educated one. I’ve got Skywalker and Rey and the General on my side.”

“Finn-“

“You fell in for me, Poe. I’m falling in for you.” And Finn does smile for real this time, because no matter how way this turns out, he’s got Poe by his side. 

“Please don’t do this,” he whispers. 

“I’m not letting go. Not again.”

Finn feels a slight tingle in his hands where he’s gripping at Poe’s arms. It’s the only warning he has and he quickly presses his face into the crook of Poe’s neck. 

And then suddenly the world is rushing around him, and it feels like the air is crackling around them. Poe wraps his arms around Finn tightly, holding him as close as possible.

“Is this normal?” Finn is close enough to Poe’s ear that he can say it over the wind.

“No,” Poe answers. “Hold on.”

Finn holds tight, eyes squeezed shut.

The wind howls even louder-

the crackling intensifies-

it feels almost like the air is trying to tear them apart-

and then they are flying up-

and they shoot upwards through the pool in the cave to land on the ground, still clinging each other.

They lie there for a moment, gasping for breath.

“Did it work?” Poe pants. “Are we back to normal?”

“I don’t know.” Finn sits up but grabs Poe’s hand, still refusing to let go. He pulls the mini holoprojector he’s kept in his belt since his plan was formulated and keys in the numbers he needs. Rey flickers into view.

“Did we just leave?” Finn asks. “Is everything normal?”

It’s hard to tell through the glitchy blue hologram, but it looks like Rey swallows back a sob. “Yeah,” she chokes. “Yeah, you just left. No time’s passed.”

It worked.

Finn breaks into a wide grin. Poe laughs weakly and tilts his head until it’s leaning into Finn’s shoulder. Finn reaches up almost absently and rests his hand against Poe’s hair.

“We’re okay,” he whispers.

“We’ll send a craft right away,” General Organa says, poking her head into the hologram. “No more dragon snakes, please.”

“We’ll try to remember that.” Finn glances towards where the dragon snake’s corpse would have been, only an imprint in the dirt now. Dragon snakes decompose fast.

“Poe?”

Poe cracks an eye open. “Yes, General?”

She smiles then, warm and genuine. “It’s good to have you back.”

“Thanks, General.”

Before Finn turns off the projector, he hears Rey yell _“they made it, they’re okay!”_ and the resulting whoops and cheers. He puts the projector in the dirt and leans his back against the cave wall, tugging Poe with him slightly.

“You did it,” Poe mumbles. He looks up from where he was leaning into Finn. “You saved me.”

Finn grins back, almost giddy with joy. “You saved me first.”

Poe throws his head back and laughs right up until Poe gently puts a hand on his cheek and kisses him softly.

“I love you,” Finn murmurs when Poe pulls back. Poe gives him that sunny, blinding smile.

“I guessed.”

It’s Finn’s turn to laugh, linking his hand with the hand that Poe’s wearing his ring on and settling into the cave as they wait for the telltale sounds of a shuttle overhead.

**Author's Note:**

> I texted a friend of mine about this story panicking saying that I'd had an idea for a Time Traveler's Wife-ish AU and this was the worst idea I'd ever had and oh god this is the end. Said friend very wisely told me that it was not a bad idea and that he believed in me to pull it off. Two days and nearly 11,000 words later, here we are. I think I did okay.
> 
> Here's what I envisioned for things mentioned in this story:
> 
> The ring: http://perrywinkles.com/shop/rings/sterling-silver-and-black-rhodium-birch-ring/
> 
> Poe's jacket: not gonna lie, a lot of this jacket choice was wish fulfillment, as in "hey, you know what Poe Dameron would look reeeeeeally fuckin great in?" The picture's been giving me trouble lately, but you can get a decent idea from the photo even if it says "click for full resolution" across it, and I'll include a link to the article I found it in underneath as well.  
> -http://www.mostexpensivelistal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Most-Expensive-Leather-Jackets-2014-2015-For-Men-3.jpg   
> http://www.mostexpensivelistal.com/most-expensive-leather-jackets-2014-2015-for-men/
> 
> Many thanks to another friend for helping me pick out the jewelry. You know who you are, girl.


End file.
